J. Elijah Bratton, PhD is first and foremost the proud father of three kind and brilliant children who embody the joy that motivates his life of servant leadership for students across the globe. The grandson of Great Migration South Carolinians who settled in Ocean City, New Jersey, Dr. Bratton is a transformational higher education leader and scholar with more than two decades of progressive leadership in secondary pedagogy, holistic student development, ethospiritual formation, program design, and institutional advancement. He currently serves as Assistant Director of Academic & Student Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University, providing strategic leadership for over 4,500 undergraduates and 420 honors scholars. Dr. Bratton earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies from Howard University in 2025, where his neo-DuBoisian framework for high-achieving Black student development contributes to the national discourse on HBCU capacity-building through honors education and beyond.

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